Thanks for the info! I actually took Zocor for several years, from 1997 to 2003, & went off it after I lost a bunch of weight. I had no memory of ever learning that hypothyroidism was a possible cause of hypercholesterolemia, so I just looked at my package insert (I always get the physician one, with the teeny print) and sure enough, it says to eliminate hypothyroidism as a cause before starting statin therapy. Hah! and I thought I knew everything. I think I probably read this & ignored it, because in those years I always had normal TSH & didn't hardly even know where my thyroid was. So! I am grateful for the input, because my LDL has been creeping up for the last few months and I may have to consider statin therapy again (phooey). Now I will be armed with this knowledge when I combine making this decision with following my TSH levels post surgery--all was normal before surgery, my surgery was for a nodule. Gosh, if it isn't one thing, it's another...thanks again.
Last edited by superstring; 12-11-2004 at 08:07 PM.
You're welcome.
The reason I learned this tidbit is personal. I had a primary MD who pushed and pushed me to take a statin for my borderline high cholesterol. He also wanted me to take BP med because of the spiky readings I always had in his office... but never at home. Not liking the idea of statins at all, nor the potential side effects of BP meds, I was adamant that I'd do it the natural way, with primarily exercise - because my diet was already pretty good. I wasn't tons overweight, either... I just couldn't understand why my chol would be high.
After 6 months of increasing amounts of daily exercise, the LDL went up 4 points! And it suddenly dawned on me that I'd only lost 4 lbs. within that time. That's went I went websurfing to learn what would cause these things, and lo and behold.... hypoT came up on site after site. Another thing that hit me ... my mom was hypothyroid. Bingo! Once I finally got my official diagnosis, (not an easy thing to do, BTW) I found a better doctor who isn't such a drug-pusher, who put me on Armour, and my BP is now fine. Still haven't had another chol test, so I'm not as sure what's happened there, but my doc isn't concerned. He knows that once T4 and T3 levels are optimum, chol nearly invariably improves.
I noticed you talked in another thread about how often you have TSH checked. One more thing I'll mention, in case you don't know, is that TSH is pretty unimportant once you're in treatment. To achieve T4 and T3 levels that are optimal, TSH nearly always will be at the very bottom of or below the lab range. Focusing primarily on it will almost guarantee an undertreated patient.
Thanks again for further info. I have gathered from reading posts on this board that just having a "normal" TSH doesn't guarantee anything. My nurse practitioner started out with testing TSH, free T3 & free T4 when the nodule was first discovered (among other tests), and a few months later, just before surgery, I had these 3 done again. Didn't & still don't have any symptoms, & results were normal (& TSH same as last few years--usually 1.25, once was 1.99, last time was .88; T3 is 2.6-2.7, T4 is .80) on all 3 tests both times. But given that I now have only half a thyroid, the idea is to track TSH & see if it starts to head upward, & start treatment as early as possible if this happens. Of course, I intend to be sure they test free T3 & free T4 as well, whenever they test TSH. (Now here I'll actually admit my ignorance: I assume these are the thyroid hormones which should be measured--but I know there are other tests as well, I just haven't learned about them. I was focusing on cancer because of the nodule.) My project now is to watch my scar fade, and to memorize the symptoms of hypothyroidism! (And to get my estradiol up to where I am not hot flashing. I kind of wish I'd taken care of this earlier, but hindsight is always 20-20. I do recognize the hot flashes as due to lack of estrogen, because there is a certain pattern to them which I recognize from early menopause.) I want to stay current with everything because I may be looking into Zocor again, as my numbers have been edging up. Seems like keeping a hawk eye on thyroid is important before I sign up for Zocor again. Thanks again for your help!
